A Brother's Perspective
by DisguisedasInnocent
Summary: Gail Peck the Cop is an individual born from years of endless shaping by her parents, but behind that training there once stood a young girl who smiled and laughed. Steve Peck remembers this girl, and tells Holly about her as they sit beside Gail's bedside.


_Author's Note: This story is born from a combination of my personal Headcanon surrounding Gail's ability with sign language and my desire for a Steve/Gail/Holly scene on the show. I may or may not have rambled a bit._

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Steve held his little sister's hand tightly, rubbing the pad of his thumb across the woman's pale skin, avoiding brushing the edge of the bandage secured around her wrist in the same movement. "This isn't the first time I've been here," He murmured without looking upwards knowing the woman on the other side of the room would hear his words. "I know it isn't, first time because of her work though."

"She's… tried before?" Holly asked softly, biting down on her bottom lip, her heart jumping in her chest.

"Once or twice that I know of, yes." Steve answers his eyes tracing the contours of his sleeping sister's face. "My Mother would never say it to anyone but Gail was an accident. She wasn't expecting or wanted, and as much as my Father and I tried to make her feel welcome, Gail noticed that. She's a perceptive little bastard, and nothing ever escapes her for long. She knew that my Mother never wanted a second child, I mean, I was ten by the time that Gail came into life and a teenager by the time that she had any ability to interact on any meaningful scale."

"She's spoken of your Mother before and her expectations." The dark haired Doctor said with a frown marring her lips. "She called them 'Peckspectations'."

"Our little joke," Steve chuckled fondly, tightening his fingers around Gail's hand minutely. "I never really felt the pressure as a child; sure, Mum wanted me to do my best in school and hated it when I got into trouble but nothing more than any other Mother I suppose. With Gail, it was different, harsher and less loving all around. Gail made a mistake and she would be ridiculed for it for weeks, sometimes months."

"Ridiculed?" Holly asked quietly almost fearing the answer to the unspoken question.

"Gail doesn't speak in public well, she never has, but it was worse in school. Once she had to give a presentation to the class without anyone backing her up. She couldn't do it; instead she puked in the middle of the classroom." Steve shook his head with a sigh, rubbing the fingers of his free hand across his forehead. "Mum screamed at her for hours that night, telling her repeatedly that she was a disappointment and saying that a 'Peck' would never vomit in public from nerves. The next month there was another presentation, and Gail couldn't do it again, Mum yelled again. Gail ended up mute for three years."

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed at those words, her mind struggling to associate the blonde haired police officer with a mute child. "Mute?"

"The Doctor's said that it was Selective Mutism brought on by anxiety." Steve murmured with a shrug of his shoulders. "They also said that it would get better with age and a change in the emotional associations with the anxiety provoking situations. They taught Gail sign language to get by in public at the beginning – you know Gail, she's an expert at languages and had sign down in a few months, simplified at first, but she kept learning and now she's pretty much certified to teach sign language – but I worked with my friends to get her exposed to people. She's my sister Holly, I'm going to protect her from everything that I can, and I know I've failed to protect her from our parents but I tried my best."

"She speaks highly of you." Holly murmured softly, trailing her fingers across Gail's left hand, watching as Steve's thumb caressed the back of the woman's right hand. "She'd never say but she thinks the world of you."

"She's my sister." Steve sighed, lifting his hand to brush the strands of blonde hair clinging to Gail's forehead away from her face, curling them behind her ear. "We got to the point where she spoke in public again – stunted at first but then by the time she was twelve she was just a shy quiet girl in the middle of a crowd of them."

"What happened to her?" Holly asked feeling the fear spread through her veins as a cold chill cooling her blood. "When… When did the first attempt come?"

"She was fifteen." Steve murmured lifting his eyes away from Gail's face to stare into Holly's intelligent brown eyes. "She tried to call me, to talk, but I was on an assignment and couldn't get to the phone. Mum had been on her ass about something – I'm not sure what any more – I don't think it mattered it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I had a call from the hospital at three o'clock in the morning asking me to come in and sign some paperwork for my sister, because the hospital couldn't get in touch with my parents. I sat at her bedside for eight hours until my Father appeared and twelve until my Mother came by."

"That's…" Holly's words trailed off into nothingness, her mouth open but her tongue silent. "That's horrible."

"What's more horrible is that they didn't ask her why – my Mum told her to get over herself and get back to school as soon as possible and my Dad just stayed quiet on the whole thing. He's never really… stood up to Mum about anything, especially not Gail."

Holly felt her stomach turn at Steve's words, her eyes tracing over Gail's face in an attempt to piece together the puzzle of the woman's mind. "No wonder she's so guarded. I used to think that it was because of Jerry, but then the Rookies all said she's been this way since the beginning."

"She wasn't as a kid." Steve whispered a small smile growing on his lips. "She was thing boisterous blonde little thing that loved to muck in with the boys. My friends actually liked to have Gail with us – constant smiles, laughs but with a sarcastic edge even when she was younger."

"I can imagine that." Holly chuckled, sliding her fingers along the woman's smooth forearm, feeling the reassuring warmth of her body underneath her fingertips.

"I'm not sure what happened between my parents and Gail that night but it broke something inside her and she began to hide pieces of herself even from me." Steve sighed leaning backwards in the hospital chair. "She never told me why, but for three days I sat with her and let her talk. For a week, I changed her bandages and I took her back to the hospital to have her stitches removed. It was put on the record as an accident. It wasn't."

"I never asked her about the scars." Holly mumbled quietly, brushing her thumb across the back of Gail's hand as she curled her fingers around the woman's palm. "I thought that if she wanted me to know she'd tell me. I just never expected to be here."

"Before you, I expected to be here a lot." Steve murmured glancing upwards to peer into Holly's soft brown eyes. "I just never expected to be back here with you."

"At least this time wasn't self-inflicted." Holly answered. "She didn't try to put herself in this bed."

"No, she didn't." Steve smiled. "She loves you Holly. I've never seen her this way before, not even with Nick, who she wanted to marry. She's in love with you."

"I'm in love with her too." Holly said with a bright smile covering her lips. "Though, I could do without the phone calls at three in the morning to tell me that my girlfriend is in hospital."

"Trust me; Gail would prefer it as well." Steve laughed. "She hates hospital more than anything, apart from dinner get-togethers at the Peck homestead."

"She will do just about anything to get out of them." Holly shook her head as a memory rose to the forefront of her mind. "Do you know that she actually asked me away for a weekend out of the city to avoid going to one of the Peck parties at the beginning of our relationship? Your parents are responsible for one of the best weekends of my life."

"I'll make the next one better." The blonde haired woman groaned, her eyes blinking open in order to look into the Doctor's bright brown eyes.

"Just make sure we're not in here and it will be." Holly murmured standing up to lean over the head of Gail's bed then place a tender kiss to the woman's forehead. "I don't like spending my nights with you in a hospital bed."

"And here I thought you were enjoying my company Dr Stewart." Steve joked with a smirk. "How are you feeling little sis?"

"Like a drunk smashed a beer bottle over my head and sliced my wrist open with it." Gail answered shifting her eyes away from Holly's face to glare in the vague direction of Steve. "Did you get the license of the truck that ran me over afterwards? My head is pounding."

"That'll be the concussion." Holly remarked with a tilt of her head. "Do you want painkillers?"

"Only if I'm not allowed tequila," Gail grumbled, forcing her body further into the mattress of the bed. "Seriously, why can't they make these things a little more comfortable?"

"They are comfortable, you just like your mattress to be as hard as a rock, these ones adjust to your body to help minimise the likelihood of pressure sores." Holly said in a matter of fact tone with her eyes dancing with amusement as Gail narrowed her eyes and make a 'bite me' gesture with her teeth. "Glad to know that the beer bottle didn't knock the 'Gail Monster' out of your head."

"You like the 'Gail Monster'." Gail mumbled her eyes following Holly as she stepped out of the hospital room watching until the door clicked shut behind the woman. "How long has she been here?"

"About half an hour less than you've been here." Steve answered with a shrug.

Gail lifted her eyebrow at the man's non-answer before reiterating the question. "How long have I been here?"

"Roughly two days now, the glass embedded itself into your wrist and cut pretty deeply into the top of your back, plus the head injury and you were pretty much out of it for the entire first day." Steve said. "You've come in and out a few times today, but nothing major, and now you're actually sounding lucid."

"The pain helps." Gail muttered, licking her dry lips. "There any water around here? I'm parched."

"Oh, yes, sorry." Steve rushed to stand moving around the bed to Holly's side to grab the small cup and jug of water sitting on the bedside table. "Don't worry, it's fresh, Holly and I have overdosed on caffeine already – the Nurse switched us onto water about an hour ago."

Gail lifted one eyebrow slowly in an expression that Steve knew meant 'shut up and get on with it' before lifting her injured hand to reach out for the plastic cup bringing it to her lips and swallowing three quick mouthfuls of water. "Thanks Steven."

"Any time little sis," Steve answered with a kind smile on his lips as he peered down into his sister's bright blue eyes. "You know I'll always be here for you."

"I know." Gail replied with raised eyebrow and a grin. "You've proved that."

Steve tilted his head knowingly, smiling as Gail's eyes lifted to the doorway as soon as the handle began to lower, a smile melting onto her face as Holly slipped through into the dimly lighted room blocking out the brightness of the hallway. "Sorry, it took me a while to find a Nurse, but she said that the Doctor will be along shortly to assess you."

"And then I can find out how long I have to say here in this hellhole?" Gail asked cocking her head to the side as she smiled upwards at Holly. "Because I really want to get back to _our_ bed which just so happens to be large enough for us to snuggle on."

"You're a sap little Peck." Steve chortled a smirk covering his lips as an amused snort of air left his nose. "A whipped one too."

"I have two words for you big brother – freshman year." Gail smirked victoriously as Steve's face blanched and his hands rose quickly in surrender. "That's what I thought too."

"Do I want to know?" Holly asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk moving to perch on the side of Gail's bed, her fingers lifting to play with the short strands of platinum blonde hair at the crown of her head.

"No!" Steve exclaimed hastily narrowing his eyes to stare at his sister pointedly. "No one needs to know."

"Remember that next time you want to tease me for being a sap." Gail commented with a smirk leaning backwards into the soothing caress of Holly's fingers. "Where is that Nurse? It feels like there's a brass band playing inside my skull as you take pot shots at it with your damned baseball bat."

Five minutes later, the door handle dipped downwards once more and a dark purple uniform slipped through the gap into the private room. "Sorry that took me so long," The Nurse murmured quietly as she moved up to the end of Gail's bed. "One of the louder visitors to the ward decided to have a screaming match with the Doctor and needed to be sedated."

"Does that improve my chances of getting out of here any time soon?" Gail asked inquiringly, pursing her lips as she assessed the Nurse – dark hair pulled back into an efficient bun but kind brown eyes shone out brightly from the woman's face her dark skin wrinkled with age.

"That depends more on the Doctor than me," The woman answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "But the fact that you're up and speaking coherently now is probably a good sign."

"Ugh." Gail grunted eyeing the woman with a frown marring her lips. "How long will the Doc be then?"

"Impatient aren't you?" The Nurse commented with a chuckle. "He's doing his rounds at the moment so I shouldn't think it'll be long. Now, I'm here to ask all the usual questions – any nausea, light-headedness, pain?"

"Well, let's see now…" Gail murmured cocking her head to the side. "I was struck over the head by a drunk with a bottle which then smashed on the ground where I landed, so, that's a concussion and blood loss. What do you think?"

"All three of the above then," The woman said as she noted down the information on Gail's record. "From one to ten on the pain scale how would you rate it right now, without painkillers?"

"About a six," Gail answered.

"That's about an eight to most normal people." Holly piped up from Gail's side, ignoring the glare she received from the blonde haired officer.

"I thought it might be." The woman chuckled. "Don't worry; this is not the first police officer I've dealt with."

Steve nodded his head, pursing his lips. "And she's a stubborn one as well, and grumpy."

"I've not had coffee in at least forty-eight hours Steven, be careful what you say." Gail grumbled arching her eyebrow as she looked at her brother with a nasty side eye. "And I'll have you know I'm not always grumpy."

"You are about ninety percent of the time though." Steve chuckled. "This then increases to ninety-nine percent when you're stuck in a hospital bed."

"That sounds about right." Holly chuckled shaking her head as she brushed her fingers soothingly through Gail's hair. "My big grumpy Kitten."

The Nurse nodded a smile covering her lips as she checked information on the woman's record. "Well, it says that you're allowed oxycodone, I'll go and fetch your dose. The Doctor will be along in a minute or two, and depending on what he says, you might be allowed out of here as soon as the afternoon, he's going to want to check out your cognitive abilities and your memory."

"I know." Gail sighed rolling her eyes at the woman. "This is not my first time."

"Be nice to the Nurse Gail." Holly abolished with a shake of her head. "Or, I'll make sure you can't get to the cheese puffs at home."

"Now that's just downright evil, holding my cheese puffs hostage against me." Gail grumbled crossing her arms over her chest, wincing as the bandage brushed against her skin, pain blossoming from the wound.

"Desperate times call for desperate measure Baby," Holly murmured as she pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Gail's head.

The Nurse smiled at the sight as she turned on her heel to head out of the room. "I'll be back with your medication, try not to pull at the stitches."

"Yes, yes." Gail grumbled with a roll of her eyes and a sigh. "I'll be good. Spoil sports."

Holly shook her head at the younger woman, tapping her fingers across Gail's forehead before curling her arm around the woman's shoulders drawing her into her side. "You're adorable when you're grouchy."

"I'm always grouchy." Gail grumbled with a frown.

The dark haired woman nodded her head with a grin. "I know."

"You know, I kind of like what you've done with my sister Holly, I could get used to this." Steve commented as he waved his hand over the subdued woman's form. "She's quieter like this."

"Again, do I need to remind you about freshman year?" Gail asked with a quirk of her eyebrow. "Because I'm fully prepared to tell Mum, I might have to suffer through a conversation with the woman to get it out, but you'll have to put up with the aftermath."

"We had a deal." Steve grumbled crossing his arms over his chest. "You can't go back on the deal."

"Until you have something bigger to hold over me – and we both know that it would have to be epic for it to be bigger than this – yes, I can and I will." Gail grinned, resting her head against Holly's shoulder, shuffling her body backwards up the bed to feel the woman's warmth seep into her skin.

The two police officer's eyes turned to the doorway as the door slid open and an elderly man stepped through into the room. "Ah, good, you're sitting up. I'm Doctor Mitchell." He commented as he stepped up to the bed, his fingers grasping the medical record at the foot of the bed. "Judy is fetching your medication, but in the meantime, how are you feeling?"

"Doesn't that record tell you already?" Gail asked as she nodded to the piece of paper in the man's hand. "Judy just asked me."

"It does, but it would be best for me to hear you say it. I understand that you're not feeling excessively nauseous or lightheaded, how about light sensitive?" The Doctor asked with a kind smile.

"This is fine, but my head is killing me." Gail answered with a sigh. "I'm having trouble focusing on anything for long, but that's mainly because of the throbbing."

"A common side effect of a concussion, and yes, likely related to the pain." Doctor Mitchell noted on the record. "How about the stitches, are there any complaints about them?"

"Not really, they're a bit itchy, but nothing seems to be tugging. I haven't exactly moved much though." Gail said, shrugging her shoulders as an answer to the man's words. "I just want to get out of here Doc, when do you think that'll be?"

"I don't think it'll be long." The Doctor answered with a kind smile. "If you're still awake at the afternoon's ward round then I can see about discharging you for this evening. You were rather out of it yesterday, though, I expect that most of that was due to the anaesthetic and the bash to the head."

"From memory bashes to the head do tend to cause headaches yes." Gail said with a smirk covering her lips her icy blue eyes glistening with amusement as the Doctor's lips curled upwards into a small grin. "Sorry Doc, I couldn't help myself."

"Don't worry; you're not the first patient I've had with a sense of humour." The Doctor chuckled. "I'm going to need to examine your wounds now, and reapply the bandages, just to make sure that the stitches aren't weeping or tugging on the skin."

"What do you need from me Doc?" Gail asked lifting her eyebrow inquiringly as she leaned into Holly's body.

"First, I'm going to have to ask for everyone else to step out of the room, for privacy's sake." The Doctor said flicking his eyes to Steve stood in the corner of the room and Holly stretched out along the bed.

"Steve get out, Holly stays though." Gail ordered nodding her head to her brother giving him permission to leave the room. "How about hunting me down a cup of coffee?"

"A small one perhaps," The Doctor agreed. "I'm going to have to remove your shirt, are you sure it's all right for Holly to stay?"

"Nothing she hasn't seen before," Gail replied with a shrug as she shifted to sit up properly allowing Holly to slide out from behind her body. "Doc, meet my girlfriend, Doctor Holly Stewart."

"Are you the Dr Stewart from the coroner's office?" Dr Mitchell asked his tone friendly and questioning. "I've heard about your work, Richard told me that you're one of the best pathologists he's ever seen, thorough and dedicated - and he might have mentioned something about being one of the youngest he's ever seen as well. Far too many Doctors go into forensics after their working lives in a hospital ends, a pity that they're more concerned about ending their careers than finding out how someone died, but alas, that's the way it works sometimes."

"Sometimes, but thankfully it's not always." Holly agreed, brushing her fingers down the length of Gail's back, undoing the ties of her hospital gown. "I'll have to tell Richard thank you the next time I run into him."

"He speaks very highly of you Dr Stewart," The man said. "Right, Gail, can you slide down the bed slightly I need to get a better look at your shoulders."

Gail grunted as she pulled her body down the bed, using the metal supports of the bed frame to shift her body, pressing her elbows against her knees as she leaned down to give the man proper access to her back. "How's it looking back there?"

"There is some tenderness around the stitches, but nothing unexpected." Dr Mitchell answered running the pad of his finger across the length of the deepest wound - a long six inch tear across Gail's right shoulder blade. "No heat coming off the wound either, which is definitely a good sign, I'm going to clean it and redress it now. This is going to hurt."

The blonde haired woman gritted her teeth, clenching her jaw as the man's fingers poked and prodded at the wound, sliding an antiseptic wipe across the length of the stitches to clean away droplets of blood that leaked through the scabs forming over the line of the cut. Holly's fingers slid into Gail's hand, curled around her fingers and squeezed tightly.

Ten minutes later Dr Mitchell stood back, pressing the last line of adhesive tape along the edge of a piece of gauze before stepping away from the bed allowing Holly to do up the ties of the hospital gown. "Everything looks all right back there, I'll redress them again at the next ward round just to check but at the moment there isn't any sign of infection."

"Awesome." Gail groaned sitting back against the pillows of the bed, unclenching her fingers from the fists that they had formed around the bed sheets. "Let's not do that again anytime soon."

"Sorry Baby," Holly murmured dropping a kiss to the top of Gail's head. "I know it hurts, but it's important to check for infections."

"Checking is fine, but next time lets avoid pressing rubbing alcohol into it." Gail grunted as she squeezed her fingers around Holly's hand. "I take it you're going to want to look at my wrist now huh Doc?"

"That's the idea." The man answered with a small smile. "This won't take anywhere as long - the wounds to your wrist weren't as extensive as the ones to your back."

"Thank the lords of doughnuts." Gail muttered under her breath as she held out her right wrist for the Doctor to take, watching as the man cradled her limb in his hand, smoothing his fingers along her wrist over the heavy bandages.

The blonde haired woman stared as the man's fingers expertly undid the bindings of her wrist, tugging the white cotton bandages apart to reveal the pale skin underneath. The cord of the stitches embedded within her skin fascinated Gail, her stomach heaving slightly at the sight of the string descending into flesh to reappear again elsewhere. "The first person to do this really was crazy."

"Perhaps," Dr Mitchell agreed. "But he saved a lot of lives."

"Doesn't change the fact that it was nutso," Gail muttered biting her bottom lip at the man's fingers probed at the edges of the stitching.

"It looks fine to me, a little bit of blood on the gauze, but that's not unexpected especially in a region like the wrist that undergoes a lot of movement." The man said with a shrug of his shoulders applying a fresh set of bandages to Gail's wrists. "So far nothing I've seen is going to prevent you being discharged later today, so, I suggest you take it easy, swollen the painkillers that Judy is bringing and try not to consume too much caffeine."

"How much caffeine is too much caffeine," Gail asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I am a cop after all, I live on the stuff."

Dr Mitchell lifted one eyebrow at the woman's words, shaking his head in amusement before opening his mouth to speak. "I think the one cup will be enough for now."

"I'll make sure she sticks to it." Holly said just as a knock sounded on the door and Steve's head poked through as he opened it.

"Is it all right for me to come back in now without any chance of seeing my sister's tits?" He asked with a tilt of his head, and a smirk watching as Gail's eyebrows furrowed and her lips twisted into her trademark frown.

"Yes, yes," The Doctor said waving the man through the door. "Everything looks fine, I'll just go and fetch Judy for your medication and then I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you Dr Mitchell," Holly said gratefully moving across the room to shake the man's hand.

"It's been my pleasure Dr Stewart." The man answered with a smile as he disappeared out of the room, the door sliding closed behind him quietly.

"So, what did he say? When are you getting out of here?" Steve asked as he retook the chair beside Gail's bed.

"Probably this afternoon," Gail replied scooting her body sideways on the bed as Holly approached to reclaim her previous body acting as a human pillow for the blonde haired woman. "He said he'll want to inspect my stitches again before I leave but right now there doesn't seem to be any infection."

"That's good." Steve remarked. "You had us worried girl, getting yourself knocked out for two days."

"I'll try not to do it again." Gail murmured resting her head against Holly's shoulder. "I don't exactly like being in the hospital either."

The afternoon flowed by quickly, barring the interruptions of Judy as she came in to give Gail her pain medications and take the drip out of the woman's arm. Holly stayed with Gail the entire time, showing her random news stories on her phone or talking about her cases and the bodies piling up in the morgue while Steve discussed the upcoming events scheduled in the Peck Family calendar.

"Mom's been talking about meeting this Doctor that you're so hung up on." He commented idly as he flicked through the calendar app on his phone. "She even wanted me to get some background information for her because you've failed to mention the name or work place repeatedly."

"Failed to mention and actively avoided are two separate things Stevie-boy." Gail chuckled pressing a kiss to Holly's cheek when she felt the woman's fingers still on her arm from where they had been drawing senseless patterns into her skin. "I suppose the next family dinner is as good a time as any to introduce you to the rest of the family – I'll be nice going into it without Mom knowing your entire background history, including how many broken bones you've ever had and whether you're scared of the dark."

"She runs background checks on your partners?" Holly asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"Oh, it shouldn't." Gail shrugged her shoulders as best as she could as she snuggled against Holly's longer frame. "She's done it since my high school boyfriends, but then she tended to find out their school record – you know, detentions and grades."

"I got straight A's in high school." Holly murmured as she ran her fingers through Gail's hair, smoothing the stubborn strands of blonde hair to lie against the woman's skull. "And in college too."

"Babe, you're a Doctor, you've got major points there on the 'Good Enough to be a Peck' scale." Gail chuckled as she buried her face in the side of Holly's neck.

"What about the bit where I'm a woman?" Holly asked, muffling her words into Gail's hair as her eyes lifted to watch Steve's expression – the man's eyes darkened slightly, his hands tightening into fists on his lips as his lips pressed into a thin line.

"She's going to have to deal with that bit herself." Gail answered. "I'm not going to let her make judgements about you Holly, that's why I haven't told her who you are, because I want to introduce her to the woman I'm in love with and force her to make her judgements based on that meeting – because I know you'll be brilliant, I mean, you're you."

"I…" Holly swallowed hard, pushing the lump back down her throat as she struggled to think of the right words to say. "How do you always manage to do this to me?"

"Do what?" Gail asked with a smile in her voice. "Take all your big fancy words away?"

"Yes, that." Holly groused. "It's rude."

"I think it's brilliant," Gail answered her blue eyes dancing with a mixture of amusement and affection. "Making the Nerd Commander of the Universe forget all those brilliant little things hidden away inside your brain, it makes me feel very special."

"You are very special." Holly whispered softly, pressing a kiss to the crown of Gail's head as she tightened her arm around the younger woman. "And I'm in love with you too."

"I know." Gail smiled. "You're being pretty quiet over there brother, anything to share?"

"Nope," Steve grinned. "I'm just happy to see you this happy. I've been waiting for my little sister to come back to me."

"You knew I'd find my way back eventually." Gail murmured – her eyes shining brightly, her lips spread into a thankful smile. "I might have been the best at hide and seek, but I always came back after you'd failed to find me."

"True," Steve hummed, tilting his head to the side. "Though, one time you came back in the front seat of a squad car."

"Not my fault you didn't put a limit on the hiding area." Gail replied with a smirk. "I'm glad Oliver was the one to pick me up though, he got me doughnuts."

"And there's nothing that Gail Peck likes more in the world than doughnuts." Steve chuckled.

"Almost nothing," Gail interjected, squeezing Holly's hand. "Cheese puffs are first."

"Right, how could I forget?"

"I'm not sure brother, you must be slacking, I mean, you've spent an entire day with me at the hospital. All those hours you could have been working." Gail joked. "Mom's going to be so mad with you."

"Three days." Steve corrected. "I've spent the last three days with you at the hospital, but luckily for me, apart from today they were my two days off."

"What about today?"

"I took that off from one of the many holiday days I've built up over the years." Steve answered with a shrug of his shoulders and the characteristic Peck smirk on his lips. "My little sister is more important."

Gail couldn't suppress the smile that appeared on her lips. "Thanks Steve." She murmured quietly.

"Not a problem." The man answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "Someone's got to care for the youngest Peck out there, might as well be her big brother."

"I'm going to blame this on the drugs afterwards, but you're the best big brother out there." Gail mumbled feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, her eyes flickering away from Steve's face looking at the wall over the man's shoulder.

"I'm going to have a word with Dr Mitchell the next time he appears, I think the blow to your head did some serious damage." Steve joked nudging Gail's foot with his fingers. "Don't go changing on me now; I don't know how I could get by without your snark."

Holly snorted at the man's words, her eyebrow lifting questioningly. "You know, most people would want to get away from her brand of sarcasm and wit."

"Hey!" Gail exclaimed slapping Holly's knee lightly. "That's mean."

"Sorry baby, but you know it's true." Holly murmured dropping another kiss onto the crown of Gail's head. "Hell, Dov thanked me when you first introduced me to the group because you hadn't chewed him out in a week."

"I'm just keeping them on their toes." Gail grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted.

"I must be crazy then because I can't imagine getting by without her special brand of teasing." Steve shrugged his shoulders. "And something tells me that you can't either Holly."

"Nope," Holly admitted with a smile. "I'm addicted to it, certified crazy."

"Don't let those Doctors out there hear you say that," Gail muttered. "They'll never let you out of here Miss Smarty-pants."

"You're adorable when you're pouting." Holly laughed ruffling Gail's hair teasingly.

"I'm not adorable." Gail pouted harder, her eyes narrowing into a glare at the sound of her brother's laughter. "Laugh it up lover boy; I'll get you back when I'm out of this bed."

"I know, but for now, you're there and I'm out here." Steve grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Holly, hit him for me."

Holly rolled her eyes. "I'm not getting in the middle of this sibling violence, sort it out yourself."

"But he's going to be your brother in law one of these days, that's technically a sibling right?" Gail asked with a tilt of her head and a smile. "And you'll be my wife, therefore on my side, so you can totally hit him."

Holly shook her head as she looked adoringly down at the blonde haired woman in her arms. "You know my answer to that." She murmured as she squeezed Gail's hand gently. "But next time you propose can it not be in a hospital bed?"

"I suppose I could attempt to be romantic next time," Gail sighed nuzzling her nose into Holly's throat as she curled her body up into the woman's side. "But still, my point stands, as his future sister in law you're totally able to punch him for me."

"If I move to punch him I'll have to get out of bed and stop cuddling you, is that really what you want?" Holly asked with a smirk covering her lips.

"Oh," Gail frowned releasing a huffed breath out of her nose. "No."

"Then I can't hit him right now." Holly murmured.

"Fine..." Gail whined sadly. "You're off the hook for now Steven, but I'm going to get you back."

"Of course you are, you're Gail Peck, and you don't let anything go." Steve laughed running his fingers through his short hair. "You're like a dog with a bone."

Gail waggled her eyebrows at those words, snorting as Holly laughed loudly, watching as her brother rolled his eyes. "I don't know I prefer to think of myself as a cat most of the time."

"Me too," Holly grinned biting down on her bottom lip before allowing the rest of the sentence to flow out of her lips. "I do like to eat a good pussy from time to time."

"Oh my god!" Steve groaned pressing his hands over his ears to block out the sound of his sister's laughter and Holly's words reverberating through his mind. "I did not need to know that."

"I think that's revenge enough." Gail chuckled, ignoring the burning pain in her shoulders as she bent forward in an attempt to breathe around the laughter rising up her throat. "That's my revenge - that image in your head."

"Thanks a lot Holly; I thought you were better than that." Steve grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the woman who simply shrugged her shoulders and grinned.

"Sorry Steve, but she's right, I'm meant to be on her side at all times. This counts." Holly smiled apologetically as the man's dark eyebrows furrowed into twin lines of annoyance before he sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Outnumbered and out voted, I see how it is." He muttered before shaking his head.

"Is this a bad time?" Dr Mitchell's voice sounded from the doorway, the man's head poking through the gap in the doorframe as he watched the three people in the room blush before shaking their heads. "All right..."

"Sorry Doc," Gail apologised, her blue eyes dancing with amusement. "Just a little disagreement between siblings and future siblings."

"Ah," The man shook his head. "How about I check you over now and then you can take these disagreements out of my hospital ward?"

"I would love that." Gail exclaimed happily. "I can't wait to get out of this bed."

Thirty minutes later Gail stood at the end of her hospital bed, a pair of sweatpants tugged up her legs to rest on the protrusions of her hipbones with a loose black and white sweater hanging off her shoulders. Holly stood at her side with a small bag listening to the Doctor's instructions for after care as Gail stared blindly out of the doorway into the rest of the ward.

"It's time to go?" She asked when Holly turned back to her with an inquiring tilt of her head.

"Yes," Holly smiled lifting her hand to point to the doorway. "Lady's first."

"There aren't any ladies here." Gail answered with a soft chuckle before starting towards the door. "Steve's getting the car?"

"He said he'd bring it round to the front entrance and drive us back to my apartment." Holly answered with a nod of her head. "We thought that it would be better for you to stay with me, rather than go back to your place with Dov and Chris... Though, you can go there if you want?"

"Go back to the wonder twins or stay with my extremely hot and capable girlfriend?" Gail hummed as if in thought before kissing Holly softly on the lips. "We both know where I want to go Holly."

"Mhm," Holly breathed softly, curling the fingers of her free hand around the back of Gail's neck to draw her into a deeper kiss. "Come on then Officer, let's get you home."

"Home," Gail played with the word, rolling it over on the end of her tongue as if tasting it. "I like the sound of that."

"Me too," Holly agreed fighting the blush threatening to cover her cheeks. "Do you want to make it official? Move in with me I mean?"

"Do I want to move in with the aforementioned extremely hot and capable girlfriend instead of continuing living with the wonder twins?" Gail hummed thoughtfully tilting her head to the side as she peered upwards into Holly's deep brown eyes. "Yes."

"Yes?" Holly asked her lips quirking upwards into a smile.

"Yes, I want to move in with you Lunchbox." Gail grinned brightly, reaching up to curl her fingers through the hair at the nape of Holly's neck, using her grip to tug the older woman down into a deep kiss.


End file.
